Melbourne way ahead of Sydney as Airbnb hub

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey shows that 10.4% of Australians who travelled in the year to March 2018 stayed in rented houses or rented serviced apartments. Some 11.6% of people who visited Melbourne on their last trip stayed in either rented houses or rented serviced apartments, up 3% on a decade ago. In comparison, only 8.5% of people who visited Sydney on their last trip stayed in such accommodation, up 1.3% on 10 years ago. Roy Morgan executive chairman and Melbourne Lord Mayor candidate Gary Morgan says Melbourne has seen a huge surge in apartments being used for Airbnb short-term accommodation over the last decade, and this has cut the value of apartments. Morgan says that as Lord Mayor he will ask the State Government to prevent apartments being used (and vandalised) by short-term visitors that downgrades the value of apartments and leads to a poorer overall amenity for the city and for residents in Melbourne.